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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25055314">Memorable</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/iamrhinoceros/pseuds/iamrhinoceros'>iamrhinoceros</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Say the Right Thing (Webcomic)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>M/M, Nightmares, Past Character Death, Slow Burn, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 00:29:22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,575</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25055314</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/iamrhinoceros/pseuds/iamrhinoceros</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A lifetime of trying to be unexpected, <em>memorable</em>, and when it really felt like it mattered, he couldn’t even remember his own words.</p><p>Pathetic.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Errol Silva/Seth Castañeda</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Memorable</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I love this universe and wanted to hold onto it for just a bit longer.</p><p>This is episode 57 to 70 from Errol's perspective. I've written a more self-loathing Errol and anxious Seth than the comic portrays, but hopefully I've filled in some of the gaps between pages in a satisfying way.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Unless she can change the way she looks with magic.” Seth waved his hands past his ears, the gesture a crude imitation of a masking spell. “You know, like that disguise you got.”</p><p>Before the words had even finished leaving the other boy’s mouth, Errol felt his stomach drop.</p><p>He hunched forward, carding his fingers through his hair, heart pounding. Somewhere over his left shoulder, Seth was hovering nervously, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. His shoelace was rapidly undoing itself from the motion. “Just relax for now! I’m sure you’ll think of something once you chill!”</p><p>He gritted his teeth. A disguise! How <em>stupid</em>! How had he really never even considered the possibility?</p><p>“You’ve been on the run for a year, man. Your brain is probably worn out.”</p><p>But still, a magical signature might be all he needed – if nothing else, he ought to at least recognize that, right? He would never forget the sweet-smelling, suffocating atmosphere that hung heavy over everything, like a lead blanket, as he clutched Abby’s lifeless shoulders –</p><p>Errol felt himself deflating, hunching deeper and deeper over his knees, the picture of misery. Seth couldn’t possibly understand the experience of losing his entire family in one horrible, violent moment; the ever-present dread knowing their killer was still running free. He couldn’t.</p><p>Stupid, stupid, <em>stupid</em> –</p><p>“What do you say?”</p><p>Blearily, Errol raised his eyes to Seth’s. He had already forgotten what the boy was saying. His pulse was pounding in his ears. “I… I want… to take a nap.”</p><p>“Okay,” said Seth. The word had an air of nonchalance to it, but Errol could see he was gripping his forearm, knuckles white. He’d be wringing his hands if they weren’t crossed so tightly over his chest. Errol felt the pressure in his ears starting to lift.</p><p>“And then I want to go to the museum we passed earlier.”</p><p>“Okay, nerd.”</p><p>-</p><p>Faintly, he could hear the bustling of cars and people out on the street. The curtains were drawn, but the light leaked in at each edge of the heavy fabric, little specs of dust rambling their way down through the stale air.</p><p>Errol let out a soft sigh and let his gaze drift from the window over to the other boy. Seth was sprawled diagonally across the other bed, a leg haphazardly thrown outside the covers. His right arm hooked over his face, and he snored softly into his elbow.</p><p>Ironic. He had spent an entire year resting with one eye open, constantly on the run, no one to protect him but himself. And now, he had the luxury of a hotel bed, a companion – however accidental – and yet he couldn’t sleep a wink.</p><p>He groaned. Arching his back off the mattress, he squeezed together his shoulder blades, arms rising over his face. One of the sleeves of his ratty pullover drooped low, pooling against his cheek.</p><p>
  <em>Hello</em>
</p><p>Abby’s singsong taunts hit him like a freight train, and the word was swimming before his eyes before he even realized they had welled up. He squeezed them shut. The burden of finding his soulmate, a needle in the haystack of <em>everyone</em>, had weighed so heavily on him then.</p><p>It was almost funny, how little it seemed to matter now.</p><p>Across the room, Seth snorted in his sleep, shifting onto his side. He curled in on himself, left arm tucked under his pillow.</p><p>Errol exhaled a small smile, seeing Seth’s hair standing up in ten different directions. Things could certainly be worse. The last year had more than shown him that.</p><p>-</p><p>Errol shivered, clutching his coat tighter over his shoulders, carefully picking a path over the uneven paving stones in the direction of their hotel room. Seth chortled beside him. “How far did you even go in? Was the water past your ankles?”</p><p>It was so easy, the light jabs, the shared smiles. Even the stretches of silence didn’t feel uncomfortable anymore. He felt a distinct fondness for the other boy, in an odd patchwork of moments where he admired a colorful bowl of soup, or cracked a joke about the rough-and-tumble days of high school.</p><p>When his old friends had turned him away, automatically believed him capable of the unthinkable, Errol had lost that sense of trust for others in a series of gut-wrenching pleas for help. He shoved the room key into the lock, a little harder than strictly necessary, and swung open the door.</p><p>How had Seth so easily earned it back?</p><p>He threw the keys down on the side table as they entered, quietly considering. Not for the first time, Errol felt his eyes catch on Seth’s left arm as he shrugged out of his jacket, shedding belongings in a trail across the room.</p><p>Of course, he remembered Seth’s first word to him had been <em>Hello</em>. He had trained himself over thousands of <em>Hello</em>s to study the moment, commit it to memory. Seth’s <em>Hello</em> had been weird. The choked up, stuttering “hello” of someone experiencing <em>sheer terror</em>.</p><p>Shame and regret warred against one another in his gut. He’d been highly distracted that night. He had just narrowly escaped the police, whisking away their most dramatic piece of evidence, adrenaline on full gear. He’d taken advantage of the situation, like he had learned to so many times on the run. Taken a hostage, for god’s sake. Why <em>not</em> just keep digging himself a deeper hole?</p><p>What had his first words to Seth even <em>been</em>?</p><p>A lifetime of trying to be unexpected, <em>memorable</em>, and when it really felt like it mattered, he couldn’t even remember his own words. Pathetic.</p><p>Oops, now Seth was looking at him expectantly. He felt his stomach lurch for no good reason.</p><p>“Sorry, what?”</p><p>“I said, do you want the first shower?”</p><p>“Ah, no, you can have it.”</p><p>Seth gave an amused laugh. “You were so cold you were dying five minutes ago, and now you’re just fine, huh?”</p><p>Errol smiled despite himself. “Yeah, I guess so.”</p><p>The other boy grinned at him, shaking his head. He was clutching his arm again. Errol’s eyes landed there, unable to stop himself. <em>I wonder</em>… He felt that whooping sensation in his stomach again.</p><p>Suddenly the atmosphere in the room shifted to a charged awkwardness. Errol glanced back up at Seth’s face in confusion. The other boy gathered a clean pair of shorts and a long sleeve tshirt, clutching them against himself like a shield, eyes cast anywhere but on him. He turned towards the bathroom. “Um. I’ll be quick.”</p><p>“Mmkay,” Errol said. “No rush.”</p><p>As soon as the door clicked shut, he sunk onto the edge of the bed and squeezed his arms around his sides. What had he said? What had he <em>said</em>?</p><p>-</p><p>He woke up gasping, swimming in the pullover, slicked in sweat. That sickening smile, the terrible gleam of the kitchen knife, <em>all that blood</em>. It felt like she was there with him, just for a moment, and he hated how quickly she trickled away again, like sand through his fingers.</p><p><em>Just come and find me. </em>He rubbed a hand over his eyes. <em>Please, just get it over with</em>.</p><p>Guiltily, he glanced over at Seth, who was thankfully still asleep. Well, maybe better not for her to find him just yet. He needed to conserve his magic, make sure he could get the other boy home. He certainly didn’t deserve to be wrapped up in Errol’s mess, as much as he insisted otherwise.</p><p>He padded across the room, slipped into the bathroom. Splashed water onto his face. Sat on the lid of the toilet and stared out the window at the crescent moon.</p><p>-</p><p>Once more Errol hunched over himself, perched at the end of the bed. His heart was still racing from the run-in with the cleaning lady.</p><p>“I’m so <em>stupid</em>,” he whimpered. Oh no, his eyes were welling up again, not now – “They’re gone forever, and I’m still –”</p><p>“Am I stupid?” Seth asked.</p><p>Errol’s words died in his throat. He stared wildly up at the other boy. “What?”</p><p>“For this. For – the car thing. My freak out,” he said quietly, holding Errol’s gaze. Then, louder: “Am I stupid for still being messed up from something that happened in the past?”</p><p>His chest ached. “No,” he said, grimacing. “No, of course not—”</p><p>Seth ran his palm down the back of Errol’s hand. “Then neither are you.” Errol froze, heart thudding against his ribcage. “You’re a nice guy.” A small smile. “Show yourself some of that.”</p><p>Oh, how Errol <em>longed</em> to know the words scrawled down Seth’s arm. His hand, still resting against Seth’s, twitched – it would be so easy to reach up, push up his sleeve. There could be any words there and Errol would swear he had uttered them. Any words at all.</p><p>-</p><p>He sat bolt upright so quickly he saw sparkles in the pitch black. Heaving, labored breaths that gradually fell away to more measured breathing.</p><p>She was getting closer. There was no other explanation. He may not be sure what she looked like, but the signature, the messy essence of her magic was unmistakable.</p><p>Creating the portal to send Seth home would take nearly all of his strength. He had realized this days ago, angrily recovering from yet another nightmare, but…</p><p>It was selfish. It really was. But he just didn’t want to send Seth away yet.</p><p>Some part of him knew that he was wrong to have even waited this long. Surely yesterday, or the day before he had recovered enough to send the other boy home. Then he could have recovered more, before she got close. What would he say if he knew?</p><p>He huffed. He knew what Seth would say. He would insist on staying.</p><p>He felt that leap in his stomach again, unbidden. That glimmer of hope.</p><p>He glanced over at the shape across the room and was startled to see two shining pupils staring right back at him.</p><p>“You okay?”</p><p>“Yeah,” he said, and he meant it.</p><p>“Okay,” the other boy said, shifting. “Good.”</p><p>As had become so familiar, he turned ninety degrees and heaved off the covers, crossed the room, and shut himself in the bathroom.</p><p>What <em>would</em> he do when she got here?</p><p>It was a sobering thought, one that loomed ever larger each day.</p><p>He thought back to the day he’d stolen the knife. He had been so full of hope then, so confident that Opal’s vision would clear his name. Adrenaline pumping through his veins, a whole collection of cops on his tail. Of course, that’s when he had collided with Seth. He smiled –</p><p>
  <em>Watch it, jackass!</em>
</p><p>Oh. <em>Oh.</em></p><p>He thought of Seth, getting stuck in his shirt, mid-undressing to jump in the pool. The pool that he hadn’t said one word about since. Edging towards the bathroom for a shower, change of clothes firmly in hand. Clutching his left arm without thinking, during so many of their conversations.</p><p>He felt almost giddy. Suddenly it seemed impossible that Seth’s arm could say anything else.</p><p>Feeling a lightness he had not felt in over a year, he reopened the door, returned to his bed, stared openly at Seth in the darkness. Seth, whose soul words had fallen out of Errol’s mouth just over two weeks earlier. Seth, who had clearly fallen asleep again, arm thrown over his face.</p><p>Seth.</p><p>He thought of the words there, under the thin fabric, pressed into Seth’s eyes, his nose.</p><p>He shivered, running a hand over <em>Hello</em>.</p><p>-</p><p>They had spent the last few days strategizing. Errol had shared everything he could about the layout of his parents’ home, theories as to the locations of the cameras, what they might look like. Seth had confirmed and re-confirmed the plan, to go to the police, bring the new evidence to light, clear his name.</p><p>Still, he clamped down on the <em>hope</em> he felt, so unwelcome, so unfamiliar after so many months of running. The hope for what would come after. The hope of having a friend to return to. A soulmate.</p><p>They were crossing a busy outdoor marketplace. A woman’s voice rang out over the noise, calling to them from behind a pile of watermelons.</p><p>“<em>Voa</em>! Hello!” She had clearly heard them speaking English. It might be the only English word she knew.</p><p>“Good morning,” Errol responded, and kept walking until he realized Seth was no longer beside him.</p><p>“You – you didn’t say something crazy!” He threw his hands up in the air. “Flim flam, or—aquamarine, or anything!”</p><p>“Oh.” If he wasn’t sure before, this was it, Seth definitely had his words on his arm. “Yeah.”</p><p>“Why?” Concern spread across the other boy’s face. “Did… did you give up on finding your soulmate?”</p><p>Errol licked his lips, looking away. <em>It’s you</em>, he screamed in his head – “Well…”</p><p>Seth was looking at him with a concerned expression.</p><p>“What if it <em>was</em> that lady? What would I do next? It’s just… it doesn’t seem fair. To pull someone into all of this.” He clamped his mouth shut on a nervous laugh, stopping it before it could escape. He hardly knew what he was saying. “I mean, I literally pulled <em>you</em> into my mess and that wasn’t right.” He swallowed. Felt daring, just for a moment. “It’s the same thing.”</p><p>-</p><p>As the days slipped through his fingers, a sense of inevitability settled over everything. He tried to savor the small moments, walking through the market, wandering down the street overlooking the empty beach.</p><p>With each nightmare, he knew she was getting closer.</p><p>He knew, when the time came, the most important thing would be to get Seth home. Not only to find the cameras, but to get him <em>away</em> from her. He hardly spared a thought for what that would leave him with. Almost nothing. Maybe he could do a half skip. But who knows where that would leave him. Was there ocean between here and home? He didn’t think so…</p><p>A strong breeze filtered through the trees around them. Errol paused. Was that…?</p><p>“Seth…” he said, turning around, unsteady on his feet, peering down the street behind them. “Do you ever smell something familiar… and it all just hits you?”</p><p>The cloying smell, over top of drying blood. He felt sick.</p><p>“I didn’t realize it was perfume before. She’s here.”</p><p>“She? Wait, the –” Seth gaped at him for a moment, eyes wide. “What? Are you sure?”</p><p>“I’m… No.” Errol closed his eyes. “Yes. There’s a void. Like someone trying hard not to be noticed.” He grabbed ahold of Seth’s jacket, spun him around. “Go, go, go!”</p><p>“Shit, what’s the plan?” Seth was panicking. He looked how Errol felt.</p><p>“Get back to the room and – agh!”</p><p>“What?!”</p><p>“Someone just triggered the door charm,” Errol whispered.</p><p>“Good! We know where they are!” Seth held Errol’s shoulder. “I don’t know how they found you, but we can get in the car and escape—”</p><p>“Seth!” Errol shook him. It was time, it was time – “You remember everything we talked about? With the camera?”</p><p>“Yeah, of course!”</p><p>“Good. I trust you.” Errol smiled at the other boy, despite the terror he felt. The whooping feeling was back. He almost felt like laughing, the combination of emotions so ridiculous.</p><p>It would have to be a half skip, that was the only way. He had to make sure Seth was safe, and away from him.</p><p>He opened the portal.</p><p>“Now stay safe, <em>jackass</em>.”</p><p>And he pushed.</p>
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